The last few months I have been participating in MU’s annual Vagina Monologues. Its been an empowering and wonderful experience. I got to get to know lots of strong minded women around campus of all races, ages and background.

The Vagina Monologues is a play written by Eve Ensler. The monologues are inspired by real women’s stories, thoughts and emotions. The monologues range from happy and orgasmic, to sad and tragic events that have occurred. The purpose is to raise awareness about Violence against women and ultimately to end all forms of violence towards women.

The Proceeds from Mu’s Vag Mons went to Truth North Shelter, the Lead institute and The national V day movement.

I had the best time participating in it, and I applaud all of my friends and everyone in general who went to see the show, volunteered at it, or donated their money for the cause. I was in Short Skirt w/ Alison Gammon, Chelsea Drake, and Bridgit Bowden (all awesome women btw.) Here are some pics i stole from A. Gammon. enjoy

If you have never seen Vagina Monologues, put it down as a must-see! or buy the book.

Dorothy Dandridge was an American actress born in 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio. She rose to the top of her profession with her first starring role and became the first black woman to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Even being an admired and loved actress and singer she still faced racism. She starred in movies such as Carmen Jones, Island in the Sun, and Malaga to name a few.

I love her movies, and old holly pictures of her. You can find pictures of her on my wall. A beautiful tragedy.

Being the girl that I am, one of my favorite periods in history is the Harlem Renaissance. Black ideas and voices were heard and spread quickly. Black art, music, poetry, and political writings were at a forefront. LOVE.

Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem renaissance took place around the 1920s to until sometimes in the 1930s. With the rise of black publications, the prevalence of black writers increased. These writers included Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, W.E.B. Dubois, and Langston Hughes. During this time period, there was also an explosion of black art, music, plays and novels.

My 14 year old nephew’s name is Askia. I love that he has the name of a once powerful and intelligent man. This is for my AJ. Happy Black History Month Day 2

Askia The Great

Askia Muhammad Toure (1493-1528), established the Askia dynasty of Songhai. Muhammad Toure continued Sonni Ali’s imperial expansion by seizing the important Saharan oases and conquering Mali itself. From there he went on to conquer the land of the Hausas.

The vastness of Askia Mohammed’s kingdom covered most of West Africa, larger than all of the European states of the era combined. With literally several thousand cultures under its control, Songhai ranked as one of the largest empires of the time.

In order to maintain his large empire Muhammad Toure further centralized the government by creating a large and elaborate bureaucracy. He was also the first to standardize weights, measures, and currency, causing culture throughout Songhai to homogenize. Muhammad Toure, a fervent Muslim, replaced traditional Songhai administrators with Muslims in order to “Islamicize” Songhai society.

In 2008, I was a senior in high school. At 17, I was too young to vote but old enough to understand. I decided to volunteer as a poll worker, so that I too could join in on this revolutionary election. It was a day I will cherish forever. People came out in droves to vote. When i say everyone assigned to vote in my building came to vote, I mean it! Everyone who registered to vote came out that day. We had first time voters both old and young. We had couples, mother and son, etc. People were so excited to vote and they shard their thoughts on the candidates.

But none of that matched up to this one moment: When i got done around 6 or 7pm, I went to grandma’s house to join her and my mother watch for the results. When the results finally came in and they announced that President Obama had won the election, My granny cried. Now this woman has helped raise me my entire life, and i’ve never seen her cry. She was so happy. She was born in the 1930s and racism was so prominent, I know she never thought she would actually live to see a black president. She grew up in Greenwood, Ms (mapquest it, its the DEEP south) and worked as a share cropper until she moved to St.louis in the 50s. This is a moment in my black history. Its so easy to look at the past and pretend it is irrelevant, and to say things are better now but we have living relatives who lived through it and for them it still matters. I love my Grandmama. That is the first moment I actually got to fill how it was during that time period.

Hats off to the Prez for allow my Grandma, and many others who never thought it possible for a black man to become president.